


Survival of the Richest

by Adrien_Blackshare



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: AU, And if you don't think so you can sit down, And my parents would be pissed, Both of them are obviously sexy, But I hope y'all like, But it's kind of endearing?, Don't actually sue, Even though I'm a virgin, Fluff, I APOLOGIZE, I have a weird brain, I think I know how sex works, I'm broke, I'm trying y'all, IDGAF, If it sucks you can sue me, M/M, My mouth is a toilet, Or not, See you later, Smart af Phil, So yeeeeeeeeet, Strong af Dan, This is a little weird, Welp I hope you like, Why am I trying to write, it's kinda cute, lol, so much profanity, there might be smut, this is probably shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-02
Updated: 2018-03-03
Packaged: 2019-03-25 18:46:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13840776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adrien_Blackshare/pseuds/Adrien_Blackshare
Summary: “Step into the light, and tell me your name.” My gun is still pointed at him, and I am more than ready to fire if need be.He steps forward softly, and I take him in. He’s a little taller than me, but he probably weighs a lot less. His body looks like a stick bug. His jet black hair blends in with the still-dark sky, and his porcelain skin shines with the moonlight. However, the most noticeable features on his face are his bright blue eyes. I am already very intrigued with this mysterious man.“My name is Philip Michael Lester, at your service.”ORThe one where Dan lives in the slums of dystopian London and is forced to fight for survival, and Phil is a rich boy from the North who is struggling to stay alive, despite his abundance of money.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first chapter of (hopefully) a fantastic series. It's a doozy my loves.
> 
> This is the first thing I've ever posted here so if it sucks and everyone hates it, I'll either fix or get rid of it so yeet.
> 
> *Title from New Americana by Halsey*

The ground is frigid and solid against my cheek, arm, hips, and legs. I can feel snow falling all over me, but I don’t want to open my eyes. I groan softly in my unjustly shortened sleep. I can’t remember anything from last night, but I’m pretty sure I did some stupid shit. I might’ve killed somebody. Who knows?

You might think that the last statement was some kind of joke. Ha. Well, you’d be wrong. London is a fucking cutthroat place. You get presented with life-or-death situations nearly every day. The future is now, and the future absolutely sucks.

I should probably introduce myself. I’m Daniel Howell, or 061007. We all have numbers here. My mom’s is 112665, my dad’s is 091266, six digit numbers to identify and classify us. When he was alive, my twin brother Ethan’s number was 071405. But he’s gone now, so I try not to think about him too much. Anyway, I’m around 6’3, and 260 pounds of pure muscle. I’m one of the stronger ones, and that’s how I’ve survived this long, to the ripe age of 26. I’ve made it farther than most people do. I’m lucky. Or unlucky. Depends on how you think of it. 

Last night, I went out for some drinks with some “friends”. They’re really just people who don’t want to kill me, but at this moment in time that’s all you can trust. So yeah, they’re my “friends”. We went to a local bar called the “Baby’s Asshole” (charming name, I know) ordered some drinks. I probably got whiskey, flavored with some Ribena, I honestly can’t remember. But that’s my usual order at the Asshole, so I’m making a pretty fricking educated guess. Everything’s a blur after that. 

All of a sudden, I feel a kick on my right side, making me moan out in pain. “Daniel, you fucking idiot. You absolute goddamn idiot. Falling asleep on the side of the road. You could not GET more stupid. Oh, my god. ” The voice is laughing like an absolute madman, and I recognize it immediately. My eyelashes flutter open and I sigh. 

“Valeri, you are a Grade-A bitch.” I mutter as I get up and rub my eyes. She’s still laughing. I hate her. She grabs my hands and smiles at me. Valeri Janson is 22, and she’s like my little sister. My very, very annoying little sister. Her number is 081404. She’s tiny, only around 5’2, but she’s got a lot more drive and spunk than most the people out here, so that’s how she gets by. She’s also insanely fast and intelligent, although she can be pretty erratic. 

“You are lucky you didn’t get killed. There are some bloodthirsty people out here who wouldn’t hesitate to do you in for some street cred. I’m probably your savior.” I roll my eyes and rip my hands from her grip. 

“You’re still a bitch.” I kiss her softly on the top of her head and we begin walking to our little alleyway that we call home. She starts to fill me in on all the shit that happened while I was blackout drunk. She usually follows me when I go to bars and shit to make sure nothing bad happens. She can be incredibly intimidating when she needs to be. 

“Alright, so, when you and Leon and his little gang started drinking, you got drunk a lot faster than you normally do. I think maybe the bartender was trying to get you wasted or something. Whatever, I don’t know. But you all started roasting each other. It started out harmless, with yo mama jokes and shit like that, but then it started to get a little more personal. You mentioned how big Leon’s nose was, and that was obviously some sort of sore spot with him, so he got angry and started shit-talking your family, which made you very upset. You got all triggered and talked about how he can’t, and I quote, ‘keep a bitch to save his goddamn life’. I swear on my life that he looked like he was about to cry. It was kind of hilarious, right up until he started saying stuff about…” She starts getting kind of quiet.

“What? What did he say?”, I bark out, a little scared to hear what she has to say. She winces a bit and sighs.

“He was talking shit about Ethan. Like saying how it was all his own fault that he got killed and that kind of stuff. You got super angry and started throwing punches. It was literally 1 against around 6, so you were pretty outnumbered, but you held your own. I think you knocked out 3 of them before the bouncer threw you out. I guess you passed out here while you were trying to walk home.” 

I sigh and put my head in my hands. My voice is muffled by my hands as I murmur, “And where were you for all of this?” She scoffs and punches my shoulder lightly.

“I was making sure Leon didn’t press charges. So technically, I saved you from dying AND from going to jail. Danny boy, you should give me more credit.” I grunt a little bit as we walk into the alleyway. It’s riddled with trash and expired food, but it’s as good as we’re gonna get. 

Kimbyr (pronounced kim-BEER) Patel, our resident chef and comic relief, is sitting by the tiny fire we created by rubbing two sticks together. That took around 8 hours, and it’s still not very strong, but it provides a minimal amount of warmth and comfort so we appreciate it. Kimbyr’s face is lit up by the light of the fire, accentuating her sharp features. Her number is 040505. She’s a bit all over the place, with both wild hair and a wild personality, but we all love her. 

She smiles when she sees us. “Hey you guys! I just finished breakfast. It’s our favorite, fried mice.” She gives us a crooked smile, her “I just made a pun” smile. We roll our eyes and titter at her silly little joke, and sit down by the fire. She gives us all some rice, and we eat it hungrily. “Where’s Leon?”, she asks us. Valeri and I sigh a little bit. 

“Um… Daniel and Leon kind of… had a bit of a tiff. I don’t know if the latter is going to be joining us here like, ever again.” Valeri grimaces at her exclamation, and I smile a bit nervously. Kimbyr gives me a serious and intense look.

“What did he say? Or what did you say? Actually, you know what, I don’t need to know. You boys baffle me. One day you’re slapping each other’s asses and being bros and the next day you’re not talking. It’s like whiplash or some shit.”

Valeri giggles at that but I just glare at my feet. “He was talking about Ethan,” I mutter, my discomfort and anger evident in my eyes and demeanor. I look up at Kimbyr, and her gaze is fiery hot. 

“He was WHAT?” When Ethan was alive, Kimbyr was like a mother to us, even though she’s only 2 years older. Because Ethan was small, she especially took care of him, and he definitely looked up to her. At any mention of Ethan, Kimbyr goes stoic like she wants to punch someone, which she sometimes does. Our actual parents abandoned us for God knows what, probably to go off and fuck forever, like some endless honeymoon. 

“Leon’s not coming back here. Like, ever again,” Kimbyr says, quietly and finally. We both nod and continue munching on the rice. Whenever Kimbyr says something we all listen. She’s almost the leader of our group. We have never questioned her, we’re too scared to. Plus, she’s usually right in her decisions so it’s useless to argue.

All of a sudden, we hear something in the streets. This particular street is supposed to be totally abandoned, with no human life except for our little group. So any noise that cuts through the normal silence is most definitely an unwelcome one. I motion for Val and Kimbyr to get behind me, as I’m the biggest and most noticeable one of the three of us. I grab the gun that we stole for protection and cock it loudly. I need to make sure that this intruder knows what they’re messing with. 

“If you’ve come here to fuck with us, you’ve got another goddamn thing coming.” I make my voice deeper and less posh sounding so that I’m seen as intimidating. “Come out, come out, wherever you are, bitch.” I emphasize the word bitch like a badass, trying to sound as scary as humanly possible. 

I hear the intruder taking steps toward us, the noise getting a little louder every time he or she puts their foot down. I motion for my girls to get back, to let me deal with this motherfucker. 

I step out of the alleyway and look left and right. I see a stocky figure to the right. It’s obviously a man. “I have a gun dude, so you really don’t want to mess with me.” He laughs a little, like he’s cocky or something.

“That’s funny Danny boy. I know you. You don’t have shit on me. You probably don’t even have it off safety. I could beat you in a fight if I had no weapons and my arm was tied behind my back, and you had a gun AND a knife. You’re a pussy.” 

I would know that stupid voice anywhere. Leon Burgin, killer of my brother and asshole. He claims that he didn’t mean to put the fire so near Ethan’s sleeping bag, but I know better. He did it because Ethan was getting close to his now-girlfriend, then-crush, Maralyn Madison. When he was alive, he could get any girl he wanted with his wit and charm, and now because of this asshole, he’s dead, unmarried and childless, which is the last thing he would’ve wanted for himself. I’m going to kill this bastard if it’s the last thing I do. 

I drop the gun and put my fists in the air. “Try me, bitch.”

He laughs obnoxiously and saunters toward me. He starts talking to me in a patronizing baby voice. “Wow, little Danny’s so scary now! You’ve changed so much from last night when the big bouncer man came and took you away from the big fight.” He scoffs a bit, and we’re now eye to eye. His murky green eyes are staring into my chocolate ones as he says, “You. Don’t. Have. Shit. On. Me.” 

With those words, I unleash a roar of fury that I didn’t know was humanly possible. I sock him hard and unexpectedly in the stomach, and he grunts in pain as my fist makes contact with his abdomen. I chuckle as I punch him again, even harder this time. He stumbles back and groans, then runs up to me and punches me in the temple, making my vision go foggy for a little bit. He uses that window of opportunity to grab my shoulders and put me in a strong headlock. I struggle to escape as he tightens his grip on me, making it hard to breathe and even harder to get the fuck away.

I pick my heel up and grind it on his foot, making him squirm in pain and loosen his grip on me. I manage to break free and kick him hard in the groin, making him fall over and grab his pitiful ballsack. I look at him, squirming on the concrete like a coward, and I somehow see the boy I know so many years ago. A rush of sympathy and compassion overtakes me. “Go away. And don’t come back. I’m not going to kill you this time, but I will not hesitate next time.” He struggles to get up, then glares at me, then leaves. 

I look at him walk off, a limp in his step from my masterful kick, and fall on my knees. I begin to sob as Valeri and Kimbyr come out to check on me. “Did you kill that son of a bitch?”, Kimbyr asks. I shake my head and continue to cry like a pathetic baby. 

“When I looked at him… I could only see the Leon that played with Ethan and me when we were babies. That’s all I could see. I’m sorry,” I manage to choke out, my voice breaking with every word. Valeri and Kim help me up and back into the alleyway. “You need some rest honey. You’ve had a long 12 hours.” Valeri tries to reassure me as she helps me up. The girls help me back into the alleyway as I cry. 

I catch my breath as I sit by the fire, my hands firmly grasping both Kimbyr’s and Valeri’s. We sit in silence, only interrupted by the sound of my tortured breathing. I get up to grab my gun, just in case something else crazy happens. I don’t want to be unprepared for another Leon attack. 

I pick up the gun and look at it closely. It’s the last thing Ethan gave to me before he died, and I want to make sure I use it well. If I ever get the chance, I’m going to use it to kill his murderer. I’m going to make sure Ethan did not die in vain. A lone teardrop lands of the gun’s barrel before I wipe it away. 

I turn to go back to the alleyway, and I’m startled by a tall, gaunt shadow about 10 feet away from me. I instinctively point the gun at him. “Who are you? I won’t hesitate to shoot you, so don’t try anything.”

“You can put the gun down. I’m not here to hurt you. I just need a place to stay.” His accent sounds Northern, which is the richest place in Great Britain. I scoff a little.

“What the fuck do you want, Northie? Don’t you have better places to stay in your little posh ass neighborhoods?” He winces at my words, his thin body retracting. 

“Please don’t judge me by my upbringing, I hate it when people do that. I’m afraid I’ve been… cast out, to put it simply, and I’d appreciate it if I could sleep here for tonight while I get back on my feet.” He’s very eloquently spoken, I’ll give him that. 

“Step into the light, and tell me your name.” My gun is still pointed at him, and I am more than ready to fire if need be.

He steps forward softly, and I take him in. He’s a little taller than me, but he probably weighs a lot less. His body looks like a stick bug. His jet black hair blends in with the still-dark sky, and his porcelain skin shines with the moonlight. However, the most noticeable features on his face are his bright blue eyes. I am already very intrigued with this mysterious man. 

“My name is Philip Michael Lester, at your service.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daniel takes Phil on a tour around London.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think like 17 people have read this which is crazy. I thought I was going to have 0 hits for forever. This is flipping exciting.

I walk Phil into the alleyway, my hand still firmly clasped around my gun. I’m watching his every move as he looks around. He seems disgusted by all the trash. 

“Who’s this hottie?”, Kymber asks flirtatiously. I know she’s trying to lighten the mood after Leon and I’s little… confrontation. I roll my eyes and make a gagging noise. He just smiles a bit and looks kind of uncomfortable. 

“He needed a place to stay, and this is the best suite downtown London has to offer.” I grab his hand and sit him down with the rest of us. “So, Mr. Lester, tell us about yourself.”

Phil laughs nervously and coughs. “Do I have to?” I raise my eyebrow and nod. He sighs. “Well, alright then. I’m from Lancashire, and before you ask, yeah, my family is pretty rich. I’ve been living with my parents for my whole life because they want me to take over the family business, which is making the medicine for the plagues and stuff. They’ve homeschooled me because I’m a lot more advanced than other people my age. That’s not bragging, by the way, because it’s true. If I went to school as a teenager, I would be incessantly bored. Everyone would probably hate me, so it was for my own good that my mum and dad did that for me. I’ve never really had any friends except for the maids and butlers, but even they’d call me ‘Mr. Lester’ no matter how many times I told them to just call me Phil. It got super tedious and annoying after a while, so I decided to just drop it.

“My parents have had a plan for me since the time I turned 13. Teach me the ways of medicine, have me get a job and provide for them when they’re older, marry a nice, rich girl from the North and have a bunch of little children. There were quite a few problems, in my eyes, with that plan. First of all, I don’t exactly want to get into the medical field. I’m much more suited for things like biology and weather. It would be so cool to get on TV and report the weather or something. I would just absolutely adore that. Second of all, I don’t plan to stay with my parents forever. They have butlers and maids that can provide help and care for them when they get old. That’s not my job. Third of all-” Phil takes a deep breath. The third reason seems a little hard for him to tell him. “Third of all I can’t marry a fricking girl. I hesitate to tell you this because I don’t want you to react the same as my parents did, but I will, because you need to trust me. I’m gay. Like, very, very gay.” He looks at us, gaging our reactions. I motion for him to go on, not giving him any intel about how I feel about that.

“So, when I told my parents all this, they kind of freaked out. They don’t have any problems with gay people, as long as they’re not directly in our inner circle. They’re kind of like… subtly homophobic. For example, if I said ‘Oh, my best friend Harold’s brother is gay’ they wouldn’t care, but if I said ‘Oh, my best friend Harold is gay’ they wouldn’t want me hanging out with Harold anymore. And they’d make that clear to me, Harold, Harold’s parents, and pretty much anyone associated with the subject. It’s very difficult being around them sometimes in that environment.” Phil’s voice is breaking a little at this point, so I put my hand on his shoulder and squeeze.

“It’s okay. We’re not bigoted like that. Daniel's actually bisexual, so you don’t have to worry about any prejudice from us.” Kimbyr smiles brightly at him and I put my head in my hands and groan a bit, my cheeks turning red.

“That wasn’t exactly necessary information to give him. But whatever. Yeah I’m little gay. You’re very much accepted here. Don’t worry about holding anything back.” I smile at him softly, and he sadly smiles back.

“So, I mean, if you don’t want me here, then I can go find another place to stay. It’s not any trouble.” He looks a bit hesitant as he says this, almost as if he’s worried that we actually don’t accept him at all. 

“No, no, you’re welcome to stay here. We promise, we already love you. We also really could use a smart person around, so we don’t do a bunch of stupid shit. The day is just beginning and so many fun surprises have already happened.” Valeri swings her black hair and grins, obviously excited for new adventures and people. However, Phil kind of winces at her words. She furrows her eyebrows and cocks her head. “What? Is everything okay?”

Phil nod and smiles, but it looks kind of tortured. “Yeah,it’s just where I’m from we don’t usually use so much profanity. It’s okay if you do, it’s just a bit unfamiliar.”

Kimbyr scoffs and rolls her eyes. She turns to me. “Ooooooh, Danny boy, looks like you’re going to have to watch that potty mouth of yours.” I stick my tongue out at her like a child. 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let’s show Philly around the area. If he’s gonna be chilling with us he needs to know the ropes.” I try and change the subject so Phil doesn’t feel uncomfortable. I want this newcomer to know that he’s one of us now. 

Valeri rolls her eyes and yawns. “That sounds absolutely boring. You can do that, Kimbyr and I will have some girl time over here.” She grabs Kimbyr’s hand and they nod together. 

“Yeah, I’ve wanted to braid Val’s hair for a while anyway. She needs it, her hair is an absolute mess at this moment.” Kimbry smiles at Valeri, and Val punches her in the arm.

“You’re a bitch and I hate you. Anyway, you two boys have fun!” Valeri waves us off as her and Kimbyr get into a fake fight about the condition of the former’s hair. I shrug at Phil and lead him out of the alleyway. There’s graffiti on the brick walls, some of it by other people who’ve lived here before us, and most of it by us. There’s one particularly detailed painting done by yours truly of the current King of England sucking my dick. It’s my proudest work. 

I point at it and grin a little. “This is one of mine. It took me 3 hours, and you know it was worth it.” Phil looks very much appalled. I laugh at his expression and lead him down the street.

“This used to be one of the busiest streets in London. It was a huge shopping center, there were coffee shops on every corner that couples and hipsters would chill at, there were malls teenage girls would go for shopping sprees, there were fancy restaurants people would have dates at, churches and parks and repair shops and hospitals. Now it’s abandoned.” I lead him to a little patch of grass in between two buildings. “I come here sometimes at night, to get away from everything and look at the stars.” I lay down and let him lay beside me. The sun is just barely coming up, so we stare at the sunset together.

“It really is beautiful here,” Phil say wistfully. I look at him, one eyebrow raised, confused. “I mean, there’s not any streetlights or anything, so you can still see the moon and the stars, even though it’s almost daytime. It’s absolutely gorgeous.” 

I shrug a little. “It’s okay, I guess. I’d rather live in the North. I want to walk around without fear of being killed, or drugged, or raped, or anything like that. It’s honestly incredibly terrifying living here. I’m scared 24/7.”

Phil grabs my hand and squeezes it softly. “It’s okay. I’ll protect you.” He jokingly flexes his free arm, and I laugh at his scrawniness. I flex my one of my own biceps and he gasps. “Oh my goodness! Can I touch it?” I laugh a bit and nod. He reaches out and squeezes. “You’re ripped. Woah.” I laugh again and start flexing more. This gets him in a giggling frenzy, which makes me laugh. Soon enough, we’re both cracking up and practically rolling around on the ground like idiots. I think I’m gonna like this guy.

We catch our breath and try and stop laughing, but Phil is still smiling brightly, his tongue sticking out between his teeth. Goddammit, he’s adorable. I laugh nervously and stand up. “Welp, I guess we should continue the tour, yeah?” He nods and coughs a bit as he gets up. 

“Uh, yeah. Let’s get going.” He starts walking away from me. I laugh a bit.

“Wow, you certainly do know your way around London, don’t you Philly?” He stops and turns around at my words, blushing and running his fingers through his hair.

“Oh, um, crap, sorry. Show me the way, Daniel.” I smile at him a little and take the lead. He follows me as I continue to show him around. 

“Right. So here is an abandoned supermarket that we use to get our food. We sometimes have enough money to actually go out to the town and get real food, but since Leon’s gone, and he was our sort of breadwinner, this is all we’ve got.”

“Isn’t the food kind of like… expired by now?” Phil, again, looks appalled. I shrug. 

“I guess it could be, but I’d rather eat expired food than starve to death. It’s kind of hard living out here but I mean we manage.” Phil looks at me, the pity he feels for me and my situation is obvious. 

“Do you… do you want me to try and get you some money or something? You live in an alleyway, for Pete’s sakes. I mean you’ve been so kind to me… It’s the least I can do to try and help.” He looks so worried and compassionate. Still, I shake my head. 

“No, it’s okay. We manage fine enough. Do you wanna see something super cool?” I try to change the subject away from our money situation, and it seems to work. He nods excitedly. “Well, then, you’d better follow me!” I begin to run to my favorite spot in the whole city. I turn to look behind me and Phil is sprinting behind me to the best of his ability, his black hair blowing in the wind. He looks a bit winded, but he’s trying his best to keep up.

Finally, we arrive at our destination. It’s an old, rusty playground outside a broken down primary school building. “I come here when I’m sad. It’s really nice sometimes to act like a kid again, when you didn’t have to care so much. I find myself caring a lot, like about people’s entertainment and stuff like that. It honestly gets to be too much sometimes.”

Phil nods and sits on a swing set. I sit down next to him and stare at him. He seems to be contemplating something, he’s very deep in thought. “Yeah… I agree. But caring can be good sometimes too. Like, if you don’t care about anything, then you can’t live life to the fullest. Sometimes to reach your full potential you have to be a little bit high maintenance. You have to fight for what you want. All my life, I’ve had things handed to me. Money, brains, food, pretty much everything. Yet, I’m not satisfied about where I am. You on the other hand, you seem to have to work for everything you have, and you’re a helluva lot happier than I think I’ve ever been. I don’t know, it just seems like maybe if I was born in the same environment you were… I’d be a lot happier.”

There are tears swimming in Phil’s eyes. The blue seems even brighter when he’s almost crying than normal. It’s beautiful. “Phil, you can’t help the circumstances you were born in. Neither can I. All that matters is that you use your experiences to help you grow. If you can push through everything you’ve been taught and make yourself a beautiful person, which you have already done, then I think you’ve accomplished something.” He looks at me and smiles, tears still in his eyes.

“I’m glad I met you. I can tell we’re going to be the best of friends.” He looks very hopeful with those words, his voice almost brimming with wistfulness and innocence.

“I agree, Philly. I really do,” I answer, standing up from the swingset. “Let’s go back home, okay? We can tell the girls that we got caught up looking at some birds or something so they won’t be suspicious.” He nods and stands up with me.

We begin walking home in silence, neither of us feeling the need to speak. The air between us is heavy with unspoken thoughts, in a language only we can understand. Even though I just met this man, there’s some sort of connection there that can’t be explained. It’s kind of the same connection I felt with Ethan, but vastly different. It’s intriguing. I’m excited to find out more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Their romance is blossoming. This is great. I know my chapters are a little short but I mean like they're jam-packed with action so I think it's okay???? If it's not okay then y'all can sue me, I guess.

**Author's Note:**

> I edited this to the best of my abilities, but if you notice any mistakes and/or plotholes throughout this work, tell me in the comments.
> 
> Also WHY THE HELL DID I WRITE A FIGHT SCENE i'M NOT GOOD AT THOSE AT ALLLLLLLLLL


End file.
